Kent Thompson’s varied sophomore slate as Denver Center Theatre Company artistic director includes old standards, provocative new dramas and a rare staging of a Broadway musical-comedy classic.
From “Amadeus” to “A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum,” with Shakespeare’s “King Lear” and Martin McDonagh’s grisly “The Pillowman” in between, the 2006-07 season boasts 11 plays.
The diverse lineup announced Tuesday is perhaps most notable for Stephen Sondheim’s 43-year-old “Forum.” It’s the DCTC’s first Broadway musical comedy since Sondheim’s “A Little Night Music” in 1989. Thompson said he considers staging such favorites as “part of the mission and mandate,” of being the region’s largest theater.
DCTC’s committment to women, Latina and black playwrights also continues. And Alan Ayckbourn’s “Season’s Greetings,” which Thompson touted as an “adult antidote to ‘A Christmas Carol,”‘ will overlap another production of the traditional holiday classic.
Last month’s inaugural Colorado New Play Summit produced Jason Grote’s “1001,” which has been tabbed for full production next year. The aim, Thompson said, is to return the Denver Center to the leading edge of new-play development.
“1001”, a DCTC world premiere, reconsiders “A Thousand and One Arabian Nights” and themes of love and war “from ancient Baghdad to the post-9/11 era,” Thompson said.
The season begins Sept. 28 with Lisa Loomer’s “Living Out,” about a Los Angeles lawyer couple and their hard-working illegal Salvadoran employees. Thompson called this a hilarious satire.
Peter Shaffer’s “Amadeus,” coinciding with the 250th anniversary of the birth of Mozart, will give the DCTC a chance to collaborate with local classical music organizations.
The DCTC company revisits McDonagh, the Irish playwright who was a favorite under predecessor Donovan Marley, for “The Pillowman.” Thompson noted the play is “gruesome, darkly funny, then surprisingly uplifting,” as it tackles censorship, the state’s right to torture, free speech and the power of art to ennoble.
George Bernard Shaw’s “Mrs. Warren’s Profession” is slated for spring; followed by “Pure Confidence” by Carlyle Brown, a new story of slavery and Reconstruction; and “The Sweetest Swing in Baseball,” by Rebecca Gilman, about a painter in a psychiatric hospital who finds inspiration from Darryl Strawberry.
TV critic Joanne Ostrow can be reached at 303-820-1830 or jostrow@denverpost.com.
Denver Center Theatre Company 2006-07 season
LIVING OUT | By Lisa Loomer, Sept. 28-Oct. 28
AMADEUS | By Peter Shaffer, Oct. 5-October 28
SEASON’S GREETINGS | Alan Ayckbourn, Nov. 24-Dec. 23
A CHRISTMAS CAROL | Adapted by Richard Hellesen, Nov. 30-Dec. 24
THE PILLOWMAN | By Martin McDonagh, Jan. 18-Feb. 24, 2007
1001 | By Jason Grote, Jan. 25-Feb. 24, 2007
KING LEAR | By William Shakespeare, Feb. 1-24, 2007
MRS. WARREN’S PROFESSION |
By George Bernard Shaw, March 22-April 21, 2007
PURE CONFIDENCE | By Carlyle Brown, March 29-April 21, 2007
THE SWEETEST SWING IN BASEBALL | By Rebecca Gilman, April 12-May 19, 2007
A FUNNY THING HAPPENED ON THE WAY TO THE FORUM | May 17-June 9, 2007